To Measure Family
by Rosabell
Summary: Sequel to "To Measure Worth". Dr. Li Syaoran is back in Hong Kong to take care of his sick mother after years of living in Tomoeda. Certain things require getting used to. R&R!


To Measure Family

The airport entrance was crowded with people. Syaoran was on his phone, shouting over the noise.

" I'll say hello for you! Hai! I'll remember to buy that too! Look, I need to get to my sisters and we can talk later, alright? I'll call you tonight! Love you too! Alright! Ja!"

He scanned the crowd of welcoming people holding up signs so their loved ones could find them. He could not see his sisters among the welcoming party.

_Must be stuck in traffic._

He glanced at his phone. Should he call? He did not want to seem too pushy about this affair. Especially as his sisters were not the only ones who were going to pick him up at the airport. Their husbands and one of his cousins were tagging along as well.

_Sigh. _They were not nearly so welcoming the first time he came home from Japan. Well, his sisters and his mother were, but everyone else just took it in a stride. Ever since he married Sakura, things got a little sleezier among his relatives.

Ten minutes later, he caught sight of his sisters. One of them sported an I Love NY t-shirt she got from New York. The other, having caught sight of Syaoran first, called out to him and rushed to him with open arms. Syaoran let go of his baggage to embrace her.

" Syaoran! You look well!" Said she, and moved so her sister could hug him as well.

" Hey, Dr. Li," Said the first one's husband, " Long time no see."

Syaoran managed to summon a smile. This one, his second brother-in-law was a brother-in-low, always asking for favors and never giving anything in return. Family is not about taking, but Syaoran could not help feeling his sister had not thought things through before marrying this one.

" You look well." He said to his brother-in-law, and summoned a more genuine smile for his fourth brother-in-law. " Thanks a lot for picking me up. Meiling!"

Meiling, who had been hanging in the back, came forward at his greeting and gave him a hug. Syaoran even gave her a kiss on the cheek for good measure. " I haven't seen you for years! When did you suddenly come back from California?"

" Last night."

" Last night! The jetlag must be terrible! Why are you here?"

" Because I wanted to see you, you inconsiderate jerk." Meiling's eyes glowed, despite her weariness, and Syaoran gave her a friendly shove, in honest good spirits now.

" Let's get going!"

" So how is Ma?" Syaoran asked as his brothers-in-law helped him with the baggage.

" She's _really _excited to see you again."

Syaoran grinned. " Me too. I feel much better now that I can come take care of her."

The group got into the van.

" How is the Card Mistress?" Asked one of the brothers-in-law.

" She is well."

" And the baby?"

" Keeps us up at night, as usual."

The entire van started laughing. Syaoran wrapped an arm around Meiling, who leaned against him because the turns were making her dizzy.

" There's no hurry, really." Syaoran insisted to the driver. " Don't rush through the streets."

" Sakura must be incredibly exhausted."

" Yeah." Syaoran nodded. " Thank God for Tomoyo. She's a lifesaver."

" How is Tomoyo, by the way?" Meiling asked. " Last I heard, she just got engaged."

" Yeah. Her fiance was actually a patient of mine. He's an Ambassador."

" Oh? To where?"

" France." Syaoran gestured to the back where his luggage was. " Gives me lots of Swiss chocolate though. Very good. In Europe everything kind of just drifts between borders."

" How much of the chocolate did you eat yourself?" Syaoran's sister asked knowingly.

" None, thank you very much!" Syaoran retorted in mock indignation. " I have better self-control than that! Besides, my sweet-tooth for chocolate tapered off years ago."

Meiling's head was leaning very heavily on his shoulder. Syaoran frowned.

" Do you have a headache or something?"

Meiling just grunted, but Syaoran knew his cousin was just trying to avoid making things awkward.

" We're almost home, Meiling. Then you can catch some rest before we go to dinner."

" Oh God no, if I do that I'll never wake up in time and I'll never be able to get over this jetlag."

" You can skip dinner if you want." Syaoran said with some concern. " I can give you something to make you sleep through the night and then tomorrow morning you'll have gotten over your jetlag."

" I don't want to miss dinner. And I _am _hungry."

" Maybe some aspirin then?" Suggested the other sister.

" Yeah." Syaoran nudged Meiling. " Don't get sick on me. I don't want you to get sick when I'm visiting."

" You're an inconsiderate jerk."

" Of course I am."

The banter continued for the rest of the journey back to the clan property, and upon entering the gates Syaoran was bombarded with many of his older relatives.

" Xiaolang, you haven't changed at all since we saw you last! Well you've gotten skinnier but what can you expect when Japanese food is so expensive?"

" We're going to take you out tonight to eat some real food!"

" Hi everyone, it is really good to see you all," Syaoran did his best to keep his voice from sounding wry. " You are all looking well."

" How is the Card Mistress doing?"

" Oh she is very well."

" And the little one?"

" Healthy and lively. And loud."

Everyone chuckled.

" It's good to have you back, Xiaolang."

" Good to be back."

" Next time bring your wife and kid!"

" Oh certainly." Syaoran nodded, wishing his relatives would get the hint that he really wanted to see his mother. " Of course. My mother really hopes to see her grandson. Oh, speaking of my mother, how is she?"

Thankfully, this reminded everyone the real reason why Syaoran was here, and they directed him quickly through the courtyard.

" She's been asking for you, keeps counting the days. I tell, her, ' Yelan! Your son has already booked the tickets!' And she goes on and on about how she hopes the air travel is safe, that nothing goes wrong and you don't run into problems at the airport—she really worries herself needlessly, but ah, who am I to say. I'd do the same."

" Meiling," Syaoran looked back, because his cousin had gotten lost in the crowd. " Meiling, come here and let me give you some aspirin for your head before I go see Ma, since yours is easy to take care of."

" Oh it's fine. I can find my own aspirin." Meiling insisted. " You go to your ma."

" You sure?"

" Yes I'm sure." Meiling glared. " I'm not an invalid!"

A lot of chatter from the rest of the relatives followed at this, for they had not realized that Meiling had developed a headache during the car ride and why did she not mention this earlier? She should not have gone to the airport especially with the jetlag she must be suffering. Syaoran used this opportunity to avoid more questions about his wife, particularly those that had more political than familial intentions, and hurried to his mother who was sleeping when he entered her room.

" Ma," He called, and the older woman woke. She looked very unwell, Syaoran realized with a pang. Her hair was completely gray by now and her face was pale and sickly. For all that though, her smile was absolutely glowing.

" Son! She exclaimed, and Syaoran gave her a hug. " Oh you've lost weight!"

" So have you, Ma." Syaoran straightened before sitting down. " How are you feeling?"

" I'm alright. A bit tired."

" Hm." Syaoran studied her face, taking mental notes as he scrutinized her complexion.

" How have you been? How is Sakura? And my grandson?"

" They're fine. Tomoyo is taking care of them both." Syaoran took his mother's hand. " I'm all yours for these two weeks, at least. We'll get you in tip-top shape in no time."

Yelan smiled.

" Are you still coughing?" Syaoran asked, taking her wrist to feel her pulse.

" A little, yeah."

" Phlegm?"

" Yeah."

" Hm. What color is the phlegm?"

" I'm not sure. I think it's clear." Yelan replied.

" Well when you cough again we'll see. Pulse is very thready." Syaoran released a sigh. " I'm gonna get the records from the physician and take a look, alright, Ma?"

" You should rest." Said Yelan. " You must be tired from your trip."

" Oh please. The anxiety is killing me. I want to know what is really wrong with you." Syaoran gave his mother's hand a squeeze. " And to have a word with the physician, whatever is the case."

" Oi, Xiaolang!" Someone yelled from the hall.

" Ah." Syaoran groaned. " I've forgotten how totally _un_peaceful being back home is. It's a wonder you get any rest, Ma. If you want, how about you move in with me in Japan?"

" You really think Tomoeda is any less noisy?" Yelan pointed out. " You have the baby and Kero. I think Sakura has enough on her hands. No, I think I'll bug your sisters instead. And your aunts and uncles."

Syaoran inclined his head, admitting her point. " God I wish I lived closer, for once."

" Hey, didn't you say you were going to get me back in shape in no time?" Yelan reached for Syaoran's face, cupping it in her now slightly-wrinkled hand. " I am well if you are well, Syaoran. This goes for any of you."

" Xiaolang!"

" Aiyah!" Syaoran lamented, rising abruptly from where he sat and walking to the door. " What is it?" He felt a little annoyed now. They knew he was with his mother; why are they bothering him?

" Hey, we're deciding on a restaurant, but the three we're thinking of we should book early."

" Which ones?" Syaoran asked, a little peeved but successfully not showing it. They did, after all, have good intentions.

His cousin named the three.

" Oh." Syaoran frowned. " I don't know. But I've heard of the first, back in Tomoeda."

" The first it is!"

Syaoran went back inside the room, where he talked with his mother for a while before taking leave of her, for she was very tired.

" You have the documents on her vitals from the doc?" He asked his cousin as he joined them.

" Yeah, you want them now?"

" Yeah."

Syaoran scanned the records once he was handed the files. " Damn." He remarked. " I can read bad handwriting in Japanese but I seem to have lost the ability to read bad handwriting in Chinese."

" Want me to read it for you?" Asked his sister, who was pouring out tea.

" It's bad handwriting," Syaoran scowled, " Not the actual language. I'm just slow, that's all." He frowned as he continued to read.

" Oh." He said moments later. " I don't like this."

" She's going to be okay, right?" Asked his sister.

" Well," Syaoran laid the forms on the table, " She'll recover. But it's gonna have lasting effects." He sighed heavily. " Ma is no longer young…"

He fetched out his stethoscope from his bag and went back to his mother's room to listen to her lungs. There was a rattling, as expected, and Syaoran had to say he agreed with everything the Hong Kong doctor prescribed so far. Since it looked like the physician in Hong Kong knew what he was doing, Syaoran decided to use this time to call Sakura again now that he was home. He told his mother to get some rest and closed the door as he exited.

" Syaoran?" Sakura answered the phone, knowing instinctively that it might be him.

" Hai, I'm home." Said Syaoran, while his relatives gave him amused looks.

" Oh good. How is your mother?"

" She'll be fine. How's the squirt?"

" He's nursing right now." Said his wife.

Syaoran took a moment to imagine his wife nursing their child. There are few things more tender than that image. He quickly shook that mind out of his head before he could become distracted.

" Cousins and I are going out to dinner, though Ma will probably stay home and sleep. She's going to sleep a lot." Syaoran shook his head. " Freaking pneumonia. I'm really glad I have my sisters to take care of her."

" If you want, we can get her here." Said Sakura. " You're the only doctor in the family."

" Un, but we have the baby, and Ma wouldn't want to burden us anyway." Syaoran shook his head. " It would be best to leave it to my sisters, really. I'll take breaks every so often to check on her, but she's right about that. With the patients at the hospital and office, and the baby, it's not reasonable."

" Well, know that I'm open to it. Oh!" Syaoran heard the child start crying. " You impatient little thing. Syaoran I need to switch arm. You call me if there's anything, alright?"

" Sure." Syaoran grinned. He hung the phone up.

" She okay?" Asked Meiling, who came into the room looking slightly better, though still drowsy.

" She's fine." Said Syaoran. " How are you feeling? Aspirin kicking in?"

" Yeah. Thank god." Said the girl. " How is Aunt Yelan?"

" She's sick." Said Syaoran. " She'll need time to recover."

Just then, the rest of the clan decided to swarm into the living room, where they proceeded to chatter loudly. Afraid all the ruckus will disturb his mother, Syaoran and his sisters suggested everyone take their conversations to the great outdoors, as it was a beautiful day. Meiling, thankfully, received some of the attention that would have been placed on Syaoran, but even so, he could not avoid the questions that inevitably popped up from members of such an influential magical group. When was the Card Mistress expected to return to her post? What did she think of the new anti-necromancy bill? What did _he _think of the new bill? (To which Syaoran had replied that he leaves all such thinking to his wife, since he had withdrawn from magical politics to pursue medicine.) And how was their son?

" I heard you settled some cross-dimensional affairs recently." Said one of Syaoran's uncles. He was one of the more callous ones, as he was not very well-educated and had married into the family through one of Syaoran's aunts. " I thought you did not participate in diplomatic missions."

" I don't." Syaoran replied easily, though his mind wondered if his uncle was being as accusing as he sounded. " It was an unusual circumstance. I do not expect to be undertaking such affairs much, or even at all, in the future."

" Indeed!"

His decision to become a doctor and withdraw from the magical world had greatly agitated his relatives, and in fact, most of the magical community. Sakura had reported that the arguments had been taken from the phone to the council itself, where Sakura had received the brunt of the accusations, claiming she had been oppressing her husband. Syaoran found the situation both irritating and unbelievably hilarious. The Li clan, of course, he half-expected, but the exclamations from other parties, he had not expected so much, nor understood. Sakura had been in a sour mood at around that time, and had thrown away many letters, most still in their envelopes, unopened. The conflict eventually died down over a year when people simply became use to it. However, his relatives apparently still found it disappointing, because the next thing he knew, his uncle was continuing, " I remember when you were just a wee lad. Such promise! We all thought you were going to be like your father, a _warrior _and a _leader._ And when you were a child you were so good at fighting! But then you lost the Final Judgment to that Japanese girl…who later became your wife, didn't she?"

From the expressions on the faces of his other relatives, Syaoran could tell they were all wishing his uncle would keep his mouth shut. To try to rectify the situation, one of his aunts asked, rather forcefully,

" Xiaolang! Do you still practice kungfu?"

Glad for the distraction, Syaoran replied, " No, I practice taichi now. I have less time for kungfu; I wake up early enough as it is."

" Oh." Said his relatives, happy that the conversation was redirected for now. " Does your wife practice taichi as well?"

" She doesn't like to do it without me." Syaoran raised his eyebrows. " And she's not a morning person so she rarely wakes up when I do."

This earned a laugh from the crowd.

" It must be really busy being a doctor!" This question had been asked before, but asking again did no harm.

" It is reasonable." Said Syaoran. " I work in both a hospital and an office with a few of my friends." He found his way to Meiling and the two conversations taking place merged.

They went out to dinner about an hour later. Delicacies such that Syaoran would never dare buy in Japan were ordered. He found himself wishing his wife were here to enjoy this as well, and made a mental note that when Sakura was strong enough and when his son was old enough, they would all, as a family, come to Hong Kong for a bit. As Card Mistress Sakura did her share of traveling, and probably ate finer foods, but Syaoran still wanted her to taste the finest of his homeland with him. Through the course of the meal, his mood lightened as, despite all their flaws and words better left unsaid, it was increasingly clear that his relatives were happy he was back.

" It's upsetting that you should only return for two weeks." They said. " Two weeks is too short. You should make it two months, at least!"

It is a good, warm feeling to come back to the family he had grown up with.

The next day Syaoran laid next to his mother on the bed, showing her photos. Meiling laid on Yelan's other side.

" That was Sakura washing him," Syaoran pointed, " His umbilical cord's still attached."

" That face was exactly like yours." His mother coughed in mirth. " You hated baths. Well, right before you're in one, that is. You'd always scrunch up your face. We wonder if you even knew what was going on, or perhaps you just did not like the cold when we took your pajamas off."

Syaoran had a feeling that Sakura will be hearing a lot of baby stories from Yelan once she gets here.

" That's him with headphones." Syaoran flipped to the next one.

" Was the music turned on?"

" Yeah. It was Bach's Preludes and Fugues."

" Bach?" Meiling inquired. " I thought most parents choose Mozart."

" He was listening to Mozart at some point." Syaoran flipped to the next. " These are all just him sleeping."

" God his face is _exactly _like yours." Yelan laughed. " Well, sons are supposed to grow to be like their mothers."

" So enjoy it while I can huh?" Syaoran grinned. " He has a tough grip, the little guy." He showed a picture of his son grabbing his finger. " I had to pry it off. I'm not sure what he was grabbing it for."

" Probably just wondered what it was." Meiling remarked.

" He was going to stuff it in his mouth." Said Syaoran. " I had just been fumbling with yen. There was no way I was going to let him put my finger in his mouth when I hadn't washed it yet."

" Sakura's gotten skinnier." Said Yelan as she looked through the other pictures. " Exhausted from motherhood."

" Hm." Meiling grunted. She had not been pregnant before, but Syaoran knew she was considering the ramifications as she looked at photos of Sakura.

" Oh you must bring Sakura and my grandson here." Said Yelan. " Once he's old enough. Or perhaps, even I can head over there and help take care of him while Sakura goes on her political missions."

" I'll run that by her." Said Syaoran, grinning, though knowing this will never happen because Yelan was in no shape to take care of anyone, much less a strapping young toddler. " But my sisters might protest."

" Oh, it would just be for a little while." Said Yelan. " I'm not as young as I used to be."

" You still look it." Meiling grinned.

" Ha! These old bones." Yelan coughed.

She stopped talking as much for the rest of the photos, so Syaoran knew she was getting tired.

" How long are you staying again?" Yelan asked Syaoran as the two cousins got up from the bed to allow her to rest.

" Two weeks at least, Ma." Said Syaoran. " I'm not going anywhere."

" Only two weeks!" Yelan exclaimed.

" I have a job, Ma."

" You can take two months off your job! You're a senior doctor there!"

Syaoran laughed and kissed her cheek. " I'll try next time, Ma."

" Hmph!" Yelan grunted unhappily.

Meiling closed the door, and Syaoran turned to her. " I could use some tea." She said.

" Me too."

Downstairs it was far quieter than the past afternoon, though Syaoran's other two sisters were reading on the couches. The two cousins joined them.

" Wow was it noisy here." Said Meiling. " This is more tolerable." At Syaoran's sister's gesture, she picked up a cup of tea already prepared for her.

Just then the relatives decided to swarm into the living room.

Syaoran turned to Meiling, who caught his look. As the ruckus started again, they burst out laughing.


End file.
